A/HRC/39/49 views on whether private military and security companies could be used alongside national armies and whether they would be appropriate for peacekeeping missions. 14. On 27 and 28 February 2018, Ms. Arias participated in the Montreux Document Forum Regional Meeting in Costa Rica. On behalf of the Working Group, she delivered a presentation on the private military and security industry in Latin America and the Caribbean, entitled “Introduction to challenges and opportunities for regulation”. 15. On 18 April 2018, Mr. Rona participated as a speaker in a panel discussion at the seventeenth session of the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. Mr. Rona delivered a presentation on private military and security companies in extractive industries and their impact on human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights. In his remarks, he highlighted human rights concerns relating to the use of private military and security companies in extractive industries and its impact on indigenous peoples’ land rights. He also addressed the gaps in the existing regulatory framework and called for robust regulation to ensure accountability. 16. From 16 to 24 May 2018, Mr. Rona conducted an academic visit to Brazil. Mr. Rona gave lectures at universities in Rio de Janeiro, Dourados and Belem on the Human Rights Council’s special procedures system, in particular on the Working Group’s mandate. He also met with many individuals familiar with the operation of private militias in the urban favelas and private security companies working for agribusiness interests in territories claimed by indigenous peoples. 17. On 7 June 2018, Mr. Rona participated as a speaker in a panel discussion on current developments in other processes relating to the regulation of private military and security companies, during the fourth plenary meeting of the Montreux Document Forum in Geneva. III. Recruitment of children by non-State armed groups, including mercenaries, and private military and security companies A. International legal framework and complementary non-binding initiatives 18. The recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts is one of the six grave violations identified and condemned by the Security Council (see Council resolution 1261 (1999)). International humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law all prohibit both States and non-State armed groups from recruiting or using children in hostilities. 19. International humanitarian law applicable in armed conflicts recognizes children’s rights and protects their dignity. More specifically, article 77 (2) of the Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (Additional Protocol I) provides that the parties to the conflict are to take all feasible measures in order that children who have not attained the age of 15 years do not take a direct part in hostilities and that, in particular, they are to refrain from recruiting them into their armed forces. Article 4 (3) (c) of the Protocol additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and relating to the protection of victims of noninternational armed conflicts (Additional Protocol II), which is also applicable in noninternational armed conflict, provides that children who have not attained the age of 15 years are neither to be recruited in the armed forces or groups, nor allowed to take part in hostilities. This provision awards a broad scope of protection to children under the age of 15 years, as it does not draw any distinction between “direct” and “indirect” participation in hostilities. In addition, children fall within the general protection of civilians under this set of laws. Furthermore, customary international humanitarian law recognizes the prohibition 5